Skopje, 29 October 2021 

The constant investments in the field of financial literacy and the affirmation of the importance of financial education, are increasingly giving results, which is also perceived through the interest of the younger population. This is also confirmed by the results of this year's competition on the occasion of the World Savings Day, which is traditionally announced by the National Bank and the Ministry of Finance. On the National Bank’s web site, the results of the competition are already published.

The students from the elementary schools were especially interested. On the topic: “Savings - a wise decision for a better future”, we received a significantly larger number of literary and artistic works by elementary school students compared to last year - 889 in 2021, compared to 373 in 2020. We received 181 literary work - poems, 180 literary works - short stories and 528 artistic works - drawings. Half of the total number of works were sent electronically.

At the competition, within the deadline, 53 essays were received, written by students from several secondary schools, from several municipalities from the country. The topic of the essays was “Saving and Managing Personal Finance in the Modern Digital Age”. The number of works is close to that of the previous year. In the past four years of its implementation, this competition is recognizable among secondary school students and attracts their attention.

The committees for assessing the works express pleasure from both the quantity and the quality of the submitted works at the competition in 2021, whereby they refer separately to the received essays. 

Most of the received essays are characterized by solid quality according to the seriousness of the conveyed views and the style of expressing, which also show a noticeable level of financial literacy. Consequently, it is assessed that the essay is an adequate option for secondary school students as a form through which they can freely express their opinions on savings and discuss on this topic from different aspects. According to the works, there are savings habits developed in some of the young people, but still some of the works openly point to the need for greater information about savings and financial institutions, which is a direct confirmation of the need for further activities in the field of financial education of young people. In the context of the topic, most of the works also emphasize the awareness of the advantages and risks around the use of digital financial services, the need for greater education in this area, as well as the advantages and opportunities for financial education through the use of digital education channels. We are especially pleased that some essays specifically state that the competition encouraged students to read more in the field of financial education, whereby the competition achieves its goal. 

According to the adopted first national Strategy for Financial Education and Financial Inclusion, the financial regulators will continue with activities for financial education, for both young people and adults.